Hold Referendum And Let The Chips Fall

July 6, 2004|By Nasser Rashidi

In the wake of the heroic July 9, 1999, uprising of Iranian students and youth, Iranians across the world are bracing for days of activities to draw international attention to the plight of Iranian people, especially the imprisoned students and political prisoners.

Yet in recent weeks, the clerical regime has escalated a new wave of suppressive measures to create an atmosphere of fear and intimidation in order to curb protests and demonstrations on the anniversary of the uprisings. Hundreds of students have been summoned to courts or flogged on previous charges such as participation in protests. A number of students are missing.

Some have committed self-immolation in protest.

On June 20, the European Union started a new round of "human rights dialogue" in Tehran. The Irish chair of the E.U. announced that the E.U. had still grave concerns about the consistent and continued violation of human rights, lack of independent judiciary process, use of torture, execution, amputation and other barbaric punishments.

But the mullahs' Foreign Ministry spokesman described these comments as "irrelevant to the Tehran discussion and a demonstration of the E.U.'s limited capacity to accept direct and transparent talks." He then added that the clerical regime "does not accept any preconditions in the negotiations with E.U."

This demonstrates that any kind of dialogue and good-will gesture toward the current regime in Tehran will only encourage that regime to continue its brutal violation of human rights.

Prior to the last visit by the E.U. human rights delegation to Iran, three prisoners were hanged in Khoramabad (western Iran). Angry crowds protested these inhuman acts. As another example of this trend, right after the return of the E.U. delegation from that visit, the clerical regime announced the sentencing to death of four prisoners in Qazvin (100 miles north of Tehran). They were hanged in public to welcome "The Week of Celebrating the Judiciary Branch!".

It is now a while that the Iranian people, particularly the students and the youth, have rejected the mullahs' regime and their ploys.

Unlike neighboring Afghanistan and Iraq, Iranians do not expect nor wish any military help from the rest of the world. All they expect is moral support for their just resistance for freedom and democracy.

The best assistance in this regard is pressing for human rights in Iran. Of course, the regime in Tehran is unable and unwilling to provide those rights. But pressing for human rights and recognizing the Iranians' right to resist this barbaric regime will discourage support of the regime by those who seek economic and political gains.

The threat to the region, if not the entire world, from fundamentalism -- whose flagship is in Tehran -- is no longer a theoretical speculation. The best antidotes to such a backward anti-civilization force are those who are leading and advocating democratic values in Islamic movements in the region.

Maryam Rajavi, a true contradiction to fundamentalist mullahs of Iran, is a chemical engineer who graduated from Tehran Sharif University and lost two of her younger sisters under the Shah's and Khomeini's regimes. She said in a statement right after the sham election last February that, because "a crushing majority of Iranians have decisively boycotted" the vote, a referendum remained the only option available to change the clerical government.

A nationwide referendum for regime change in Iran, under the supervision of international bodies, is an idea that the majority of the Iranian people support.

Anyone truly advocating freedom, democracy and peace for Iran and the region should support such a referendum and let the chips fall where they may.

Nasser Rashidi is with the National Coalition of Pro-Democracy Advocates, a Washington, D.C.-based group promoting human rights and socio-economic justice in Iran. E-mail him at anr@ncpda.com.